Intermediary support device, intermediary support method, and program

Abstract

The present invention provides a call forwarding support device that can reduce the burden on the caller when there are multiple potential recipients for a call. [Solution] A call forwarding support device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a call forwarding estimation means that estimates a candidate call forwarding person, who is the person to be called in the telephone call, by voice recognition from the voice of the telephone call; a question generation means that, when multiple call forwarding candidates are estimated, generates a question to narrow down the estimated multiple call forwarding candidates using information on the multiple call forwarding candidates; and a notification means that notifies the person answering the telephone call of the question.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an intermediary support device, an intermediary support method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] A call coming into a workplace or the like is usually relayed by the person who answers the incoming call (hereinafter also referred to as the responder).

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes a call transfer support system that determines user information of a transfer destination, which is the person the caller desires to talk to obtained by searching based on information acquired by voice recognition of voice data transmitted from a transmitter that has received an outgoing call from an outside line. The call transfer support system of Patent Document 1 extracts user information from the history of proxy responses of the transfer destination. Then, the call transfer support system of Patent Document 1 displays a transfer destination list of the user information of the transfer destination and the proxy response and the presence information of the transfer destination on the display unit of the transmitter.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] For example, it is not uncommon for a plurality of people with the same family name to exist in the same organization (such as a workplace). When there are a plurality of people with the same family name as the person at the transfer destination, the transfer destination cannot be specified only by the family name. The responder who answers the call needs to specify the transfer destination, for example, by conversation. The call transfer support system of Patent Document 1 specifies the transfer destination from the voice data transmitted from the transmitter that received the call. However, with the technology of Patent Document 1, when there are a plurality of transfer destination candidates, the burden on the responder to specify the transfer destination from the plurality of transfer destination candidates cannot be reduced.

[0006] One of the purposes of this disclosure is to provide a call forwarding support device, a call forwarding support method, and a program that can reduce the burden on the caller when there are multiple potential recipients for the call. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An intermediary support device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: an intermediary estimation means that estimates a candidate intermediary, who is a person to be called in the telephone call, by voice recognition from the voice of the telephone; a question generation means that, when multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, generates a question to narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary using information on the multiple candidates for the intermediary; and a notification means that notifies the person answering the telephone of the question.

[0008] A method for providing call forwarding support according to one aspect of this disclosure estimates, by voice recognition, a candidate for the person to be called in the call based on the voice of the call. If multiple candidates for the call forwarding are estimated, the method generates a question to narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the call forwarding using the information of the multiple candidates for the call forwarding, and notifies the person answering the call of the question.

[0009] A program according to one aspect of this disclosure causes a computer to perform the following: a caller estimation process that estimates, by speech recognition, a candidate caller who is to be called in the telephone call based on the telephone voice; a question generation process that, if multiple caller candidates are estimated, uses information on the multiple caller candidates to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple caller candidates; and a notification process that notifies the person answering the telephone call of the question. One aspect of this disclosure can also be realized by a storage medium that stores the above-described program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] This disclosure has the effect of reducing the burden on the person answering the phone when there are multiple potential recipients for the call. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the intermediary support system related to this disclosure. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 6] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 8] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information notification process of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the filtering process of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of a computer hardware configuration that can realize the intermediary support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0012] Embodiments of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Each component in the drawings showing the configuration of the apparatus according to this disclosure can exchange data with other components.

[0013] <First Embodiment> First, a first embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0014] <Configuration> FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the relay support device according to the present disclosure.

[0015] Hereinafter, the configuration of the relay support device according to the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 1.

[0016] In the example shown in FIG. 1, the relay support device 10 includes a destination estimation unit 130, a question generation unit 140, and a notification unit 150.

[0017] The destination estimation unit 130 estimates, by voice recognition, candidates for the destination of the call in the call from the voice of the phone. When a plurality of candidates for the destination are estimated as candidates for the destination, the question generation unit 140 generates a question for narrowing down the plurality of estimated candidates for the destination using the information of the plurality of candidates for the destination. The notification unit 150 notifies the responder who answers the call of the question.

[0018] Telephone audio refers to the audio of a conversation between the telephone operator and the caller, the person who made the call, when a call comes in to the telephone operator's phone. In this disclosure, the caller is also referred to as the recipient of the call. The telephone operator is the person who first answers a call that comes into the telephone. The telephone is a telephone configured to acquire audio data of the conversation during the call. For example, the telephone may be equipped with a sensor that measures the audio of the conversation made by that telephone. The telephone audio may be the audio of the conversation measured by that sensor. The audio data of the conversation is generated from a signal indicating the result of the measurement by the sensor. The call forwarding estimation unit 130 estimates candidates for the call forwarding destination from the audio data of the conversation using existing speech recognition technology. The telephone may be a so-called IP (Internet Protocol) telephone. In that case, for example, an information processing device and a handset connected to the information processing device function as a telephone. The information processing device that functions as a telephone is configured to acquire audio data of the conversation. This information processing device may be a call forwarding support device 10. In this case, the call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 estimates candidate call forwarding destinations from the acquired voice data using existing voice recognition technology. The call forwarding support device 10 may be connected to its information processing device in a communicative manner. In that case, the call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 of the call forwarding support device 10 estimates candidate call forwarding destinations from the voice data acquired from the information processing device that acquired the voice data of the call using existing voice recognition technology.

[0019] The notification unit 150 may notify the respondent of the question, for example, by displaying the generated question on the display of the information processing device being used by the respondent. For example, if the respondent is using the call forwarding support device 10 as a terminal device, the notification unit 150 displays the generated question on the display of the call forwarding support device 10. If the respondent is using an information processing device that is communicatively connected to the call forwarding support device 10 as a terminal device, the notification unit 150 transmits the question information to that information processing device. The information processing device then receives the question information and displays the question indicated by the received information on its display. In this way, the question is notified to the respondent.

[0020] Specific examples of methods for generating questions to narrow down the estimated number of potential intermediaries will be described in detail in the description of other embodiments below.

[0021] <Operation> Next, the operation of the first embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0022] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure.

[0023] The operation of the intermediary support device according to the first embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 2.

[0024] In the example shown in Figure 2, the call forwarding estimation unit 130 estimates potential call forwarding candidates, who are the people to be called on the phone, from the phone's audio using speech recognition (step S11). If multiple call forwarding candidates are estimated, the question generation unit 140 uses the information of the multiple call forwarding candidates to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple call forwarding candidates (step S12). The notification unit 150 notifies the person answering the phone of the question (step S13).

[0025] <Effects> This embodiment has the effect of reducing the burden on the telephone operator when there are multiple potential recipients for the call. This is because, when the question generation unit 140 estimates multiple potential recipients based on the telephone audio, it uses the information of the multiple potential recipients to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple potential recipients. The notification unit 150 then notifies the telephone operator of the question. As a result, the operator does not need to come up with a question to narrow down the estimated multiple potential recipients themselves. By asking the notified question, the operator can narrow down the potential recipients without having to come up with a question to narrow down the estimated multiple potential recipients themselves. This reduces the burden on the telephone operator when there are multiple potential recipients for the call.

[0026] <Second Embodiment> Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0027] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the intermediary support system related to this disclosure.

[0028] In the following section, the configuration of the intermediary support system according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figure 3.

[0029] In the example shown in Figure 3, the call forwarding support system 1 includes a call forwarding support device 100, a telephone 200, and an information processing device 300. The call forwarding support device 100 will be described in detail later.

[0030] <Telephone 200> Telephone 200 is a telephone used by the person answering the phone. Telephone 200 is the same as the telephone in the first embodiment. In this embodiment, telephone 200 generates audio data of the voice of a call made using telephone 200 and transmits the generated audio data to the call transfer support device 100.

[0031] The telephone 200 may include a sensor that measures the audio of a call made using the telephone 200. In this case, for example, the telephone and the aforementioned sensor attached to the telephone may be collectively referred to as the telephone 200. The telephone 200 may be configured to transmit the audio data of the audio measured by the sensor to the call forwarding support device 100.

[0032] The telephone 200 may be a so-called IP telephone. Furthermore, for example, an information processing device 300 and a handset attached to the information processing device 300 may function as the telephone 200.

[0033] <Information Processing Device 300> The information processing device 300 is an information processing device used by the telephone operator. The information processing device 300 is the same as the information processing device in the first embodiment. The call forwarding support device 100 may be connected to the information processing device 300 in a communicative manner. The call forwarding support device 100 may also operate as the information processing device 300.

[0034] As described above, the telephone 200 may be a so-called IP telephone. In this case, as described above, for example, the information processing device 300 and the handset attached to the information processing device 300 may function as the telephone 200. The handset may include a D / A (Digital / Analog) converter that converts audio data representing the voice of the call (for example, the voice of the caller) into an audio signal, and a speaker that generates audio from the audio signal. The handset may also include a sensor (for example, a microphone) that measures the voice emitted by the person answering the phone and generates an audio signal representing the measured voice, and an A / D (Analog / Digital) converter that generates audio data from the audio signal. The information processing device 300 receives audio data representing the caller's voice and transmits audio data representing the person answering the phone. In this case, the information processing device 300 may transmit the audio data of the caller's voice and the audio data representing the person answering the phone to the call transfer support device 100 as audio data of the voice of the call. The information processing device 300 may generate audio data of a call by combining audio data of the caller's voice and audio data representing the respondent's voice. In this case, the information processing device 300 generates the audio data of a call so that the audio data of the caller's voice and the audio data representing the respondent's voice, acquired at the same time, are included in the audio data of the call as audio data at the same time. The information processing device 300 may then transmit the generated audio data of a call to the call forwarding support device 100.

[0035] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure.

[0036] The configuration of the intermediary support device according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to Figure 4.

[0037] In the example shown in Figure 4, the intermediary support device 100 includes a detection unit 110, a voice acquisition unit 120, an intermediary destination estimation unit 130, an agent selection unit 131, a question generation unit 140, a notification unit 150, an information acquisition unit 160, a state estimation unit 161, an instruction receiving unit 170, a transfer unit 180, and an information storage unit 190.

[0038] <Detection unit 110> The detection unit 110 detects a call to the telephone 200 used by the responder (in other words, a call specifying the telephone number assigned to the telephone 200). In other words, the detection unit 110 detects that a call has come in to the telephone 200 used by the responder.

[0039] <Voice acquisition unit 120> The voice acquisition unit 120 acquires voice data of the conversation between the caller and the answerer from, for example, the telephone 200.

[0040] <Recipient Estimation Unit 130> The call forwarding estimation unit 130 estimates candidate call forwarding recipients, who are the people being called in the phone call, from the audio of the phone call using speech recognition. Speech recognition is an existing speech recognition technology. The call forwarding estimation unit 130 may, for example, use speech recognition technology to generate text data of the phone call conversation from the audio data. The call forwarding estimation unit 130 may, for example, use speech recognition technology (for example, language understanding technology among speech recognition technologies) to extract the name of the person being called by the caller from the text of the phone call conversation. The extracted name of the person is the pronunciation of the person's name (for example, at least one of the surname and given name). The pronunciation of the name is, for example, the name represented by a string of characters that indicate sound.

[0041] The intermediary estimation unit 130 extracts members indicated by the extracted name from, for example, the contact information of the organization that manages the intermediary support device 100 (for example, information including the organization's members and the telephone numbers they use; also referred to as profile information). For example, if the extracted name is a surname, members with the extracted surname are extracted as candidates for intermediary.

[0042] Profile information may include multiple items such as surname, given name, affiliation, position within the organization, telephone number, pronunciation of surname, pronunciation of given name, and gender. Affiliation refers, for example, to the name of the department to which the member belongs within the organization. In this embodiment, this item refers to the type of information. Profile information may also include information about the content of work. Profile information may also include information about the place where the member usually stays. Location information may include the name of the district that includes the place where the member usually stays. Location information may include the name of the building that includes the place where the member usually stays. Location information may be represented by an address.

[0043] The call forwarding estimation unit 130 may extract information (in other words, values) of items other than the name of the call forwarding party from the telephone audio. The values ​​of the extracted items may be represented by a string of characters that represent sounds (for example, hiragana, katakana, or phonetic characters such as the alphabet). If information of items other than the name of the call forwarding party is extracted from the telephone audio, the call forwarding estimation unit 130 may use the extracted information to extract candidate call forwarding parties.

[0044] The call forwarding unit 130 may estimate the purpose of the call from the voice of the phone. The call forwarding unit 130 may extract a question asking about the purpose of the call and the answer to that question from the voice of the phone. The call forwarding unit 130 may estimate the purpose of the call from the extracted answer. The purpose of the call may be represented, for example, by the purpose of the requirement and the subject of the requirement. The purpose of the requirement represents, for example, the type of action that is to be performed by the call (for example, a request or a message). Multiple purposes may be predetermined as the purpose of the requirement. The call forwarding unit 130 may then determine which of the predetermined purposes the purpose of the call is. The subject of the requirement represents the subject of the action that is to be performed by the call.

[0045] The forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may also estimate the department to which the forwarding destination belongs based on the estimated telephone call content. For example, the types of information related to each department in the organization (e.g., the content and type of work) may be predetermined. The types of information related to each department in the organization may be stored in the information storage unit 190. The types of information related to a department may be represented by one or more keywords. The forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may estimate that the department to which the forwarding destination belongs (in other words, a candidate department to which the forwarding destination belongs) is a department in which the estimated telephone call content (specifically, a string representing the content) contains a keyword representing the type of information related to that content. The types of information related to a department may also be represented by one or more combinations of keywords and objectives. The forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may estimate that the department to which the forwarding destination belongs (in other words, a candidate department to which the forwarding destination belongs) is a department in which the estimated telephone call content contains a keyword representing the type of information related to that content, and the estimated objective is an objective combined with that keyword. The intermediary estimation unit 130 may consider members whose departments are estimated to be the intermediary departments as candidates for intermediary.

[0046] In other words, the call forwarding estimation unit 130 extracts information for one or more items from a selection of items from the telephone audio. The call forwarding estimation unit 130 then extracts members whose extracted information matches the information for that item in the profile information as candidates for call forwarding.

[0047] Furthermore, the profile information may also include information on incorrect pronunciations of surnames and incorrect pronunciations of given names. An incorrect pronunciation is a pronunciation that has been predetermined as a commonly mispronounced pronunciation. The intermediary estimation unit 130 may determine that the extracted surname is the surname of a member if the extracted surname pronunciation matches at least one of the correct pronunciation and incorrect pronunciations of the member's surname. The intermediary estimation unit 130 may also determine that the extracted given name is the surname of a member if the extracted given name pronunciation matches at least one of the correct pronunciation and incorrect pronunciations of the member's given name.

[0048] Profile information may include information on incorrect pronunciations of affiliations. The intermediary estimation unit 130 may determine that an extracted affiliation belongs to a member if the extracted pronunciation is one of the correct and incorrect pronunciations of at least a part of that member's affiliation.

[0049] If the intermediary estimation unit 130 estimates one candidate intermediary, it estimates that the candidate intermediary is the intermediary.

[0050] <Question generation section 140> If multiple candidates for the forwarding party are estimated, the question generation unit 140 uses information on the multiple candidates for the forwarding party to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple candidates for the forwarding party.

[0051] The question generation unit 140 selects one item from the items from which information (in other words, values) has not been extracted by the intermediary estimation unit 130. A priority order may be predetermined for multiple items representing profile information. The priority order may be in order of the likelihood that the caller is likely to know the item. The priority order may be in order of the degree to which the selection of multiple intermediary candidates is narrowed down, as predetermined. The priority order may be determined by other criteria. The question generation unit 140 may select the item with the highest priority from among the items from which information has not been extracted. The question generation unit 140 generates a question that inquires about the information of the selected item. The question generation unit 140 excludes items from selection where the values ​​are the same among the multiple intermediary candidate information. In other words, the question generation unit 140 selects items from selection where the values ​​are different among the multiple intermediary candidate information. As a result, the question that inquires about the information of the selected item is a question that narrows down the estimated multiple intermediary candidate. Note that an item having different values ​​among multiple potential intermediaries refers to the same item with different values ​​in the information of at least one combination of two potential intermediaries.

[0052] The question generation unit 140 may select the item with the most varied values ​​among the information of multiple candidate intermediaries, for example, the item with the most differing values ​​among the values ​​of each item among the multiple candidate intermediaries.

[0053] The question generation unit 140 selects items from among multiple items, excluding those for which information has been obtained from the audio of the call, as described above. The question generation unit 140 may also select items from among multiple items for which no question has been generated asking for information about the item (in other words, the value of the item), as described above. The question generation unit 140 may also recognize questions asked by the operator from the audio of the call using speech recognition. The question generation unit 140 may also select items from among multiple items, excluding those for which information has been asked by questions asked by the operator, as described above.

[0054] The method for generating a question may be, for example, by embedding the name of the selected item into the "item name" portion of a pre-prepared template of a question that queries for information about an item using the item's name. The template of the question may be pre-stored in the information storage unit 190. The method for generating a question may be by other means. The method for generating a question may be, for example, a method that uses so-called generative AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology to generate a question. Specifically, the method for generating a question may be to send an instruction to a server that provides a generative AI service using an LLM (Large Language Model) to generate a question that queries for the name of the selected item, and then receive the generated question from the server, thereby causing the server to generate the question.

[0055] <Information acquisition unit 160> The information acquisition unit 160 acquires the above-mentioned profile information from the server that holds the profile information. The information acquisition unit 160 stores the profile information in the information storage unit 190, which will be described later.

[0056] The information acquisition unit 160 acquires, for example, schedule information representing the schedules of potential contacts among the members belonging to the organization from a server that holds the members' schedule information. The schedule information includes the start and end times of the members' appointments (e.g., meetings, travel, and work). The appointment information may also include information indicating the type of appointment (e.g., meeting, travel, or work). The appointment information may also include information indicating whether or not the person is available to answer the phone.

[0057] The information acquisition unit 160 acquires presence information (also referred to as presence information), which indicates whether a candidate for a forwarding party among the members belonging to the organization is present or not, from a server that holds the members' presence information. Presence information may, for example, be information that indicates the status of use of an information processing device used by the member. In this case, presence information may, for example, be information that corresponds to the time elapsed since the last operation was performed on the information processing device used by the member. Multiple states such as "in use," "away," and "absent" may be defined for different ranges of the length of time elapsed since the last operation. In this example, the range defined for the "in use" state and the range defined for the "away" state are defined such that the time included in the range defined for the "in use" state is shorter than the time included in the range defined for the "away" state. Similarly, the range defined for the "away" state and the range defined for the "absent" state are defined such that the time included in the range defined for the "away" state is shorter than the time included in the range defined for the "absent" state. Status information corresponding to the time elapsed since the last operation is, for example, information indicating the status defined for a range that includes the length of time elapsed since the last operation, among multiple states defined for each of several different ranges. Presence information may also include information on the time elapsed since the last operation. Member presence information may be acquired by an information processing device used by the member (specifically, an information processing device controlled by an application program that has the function of acquiring presence information) and transmitted from that information processing device to a server that holds the presence information.

[0058] <State Estimation Unit 161> The status estimation unit 161 estimates whether a candidate recipient is available to answer the phone, using presence information and schedule information. A candidate recipient being available to answer the phone means that, at the location where the information processing device used by the candidate recipient is installed, it is possible to make a call using a telephone to which the telephone number included in the candidate recipient's profile information is assigned. In addition, the telephone number of the telephone used by the member at the location where the information processing device used by that member is installed is pre-registered as the telephone number included in the member's profile information.

[0059] The state estimation unit 161 estimates that the candidate caller is available to answer calls if, for example, the presence information of the candidate caller and the schedule information of the candidate caller both indicate that the candidate caller is available to answer calls. The state estimation unit 161 estimates that the candidate caller is unavailable to answer calls if, for example, at least one of the presence information of the candidate caller and the schedule information of the candidate caller indicates that the candidate caller is unavailable to answer calls.

[0060] If the state represented by the presence information is one of the predetermined states that indicate the person is available to answer the phone (for example, in the example above, "in use"), the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the presence information indicates the person is available to answer the phone. If the state represented by the presence information is one of the predetermined states that indicate the person is not available to answer the phone (for example, either "away from desk" or "absent"), the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the presence information indicates the person is not available to answer the phone. The state estimation unit 161 determines for each candidate call forwarding destination whether the state represented by the presence information indicates the person is available to answer the phone.

[0061] If the elapsed time since the last operation (hereinafter referred to as elapsed time) represented by the state represented by the presence information satisfies a predetermined condition (for example, the elapsed time is less than or equal to the predetermined time), the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the presence information indicates that the person is in a state where they can answer the phone. If the elapsed time represented by the state represented by the presence information does not satisfy the predetermined condition (for example, the elapsed time is longer than the predetermined time), the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the presence information indicates that the person is in a state where they cannot answer the phone.

[0062] The state estimation unit 161 may determine that the schedule information of a candidate call forwarding service indicates that the candidate call forwarding service is available to answer the phone if the current schedule information of the candidate call forwarding service indicates that the candidate call forwarding service is available to answer the phone. The current schedule information refers to, for example, the schedule information at the time when it is estimated whether or not the candidate call forwarding service is available to answer the phone. The state estimation unit 161 may determine that the schedule information of a candidate call forwarding service indicates that the candidate call forwarding service is unavailable to answer the phone if the current schedule information of the candidate call forwarding service indicates that the candidate call forwarding service is unavailable to answer the phone.

[0063] The state estimation unit 161 may estimate the time when a candidate caller who is currently unable to answer calls will be able to answer calls again. For example, if the current schedule of a candidate caller who is currently unable to answer calls is of a type that does not allow answering calls, the state estimation unit 161 identifies the time in the caller's schedule information when the caller's schedule will change to one that allows answering calls. The state estimation unit 161 may estimate that the identified time is the time when the caller will be able to answer calls again. If the current schedule of a candidate caller who is currently unable to answer calls is of a type that allows answering calls, the state estimation unit 161 may determine whether the time elapsed since the last operation of the caller candidate is less than or equal to a predetermined time. If the presence information of the caller candidate indicates that the time elapsed since the last operation is less than or equal to a predetermined time, the state estimation unit 161 may estimate that a certain time from the current time is the time when the caller will be able to answer calls again. This predetermined time may be, for example, a time defined as an absence threshold. The absence threshold is a threshold value for the time elapsed since a member last performed an operation on the information processing device, used to determine whether or not the member is present. If the time elapsed since a member last performed an operation on the information processing device exceeds this threshold, the status estimation unit 161 determines that the member is not present. Furthermore, the aforementioned fixed time may be predetermined as appropriate. The status estimation unit 161 may also estimate by other means the time when a candidate recipient who is currently unable to answer the phone will next be able to answer the phone (hereinafter also referred to as the call-available time).

[0064] The state estimation unit 161 may estimate the reason why a candidate recipient is unable to answer the phone (in other words, the reason why the call cannot be answered). If the current schedule information in the candidate recipient's schedule information indicates that they are unable to answer the phone, the state estimation unit 161 estimates that the reason they are unable to answer the phone includes the current schedule (specifically, information indicating the type of schedule, such as a meeting). If the state represented by the presence information is one of the predetermined states that are unable to answer the phone (for example, away from their desk or absent in the above example), the state estimation unit 161 estimates that the reason they are unable to answer the phone includes information representing the state represented by the presence information, which is one of the predetermined states that are unable to answer the phone.

[0065] <Proxy Selection Section 131> If the designated intermediary (i.e., the candidate intermediary determined to be the intermediary) is unable to answer the phone, the intermediary selection unit 131 selects a person who is in the same group as the intermediary and is able to answer the phone as an intermediary who can answer the phone on behalf of the intermediary.

[0066] This group may be the department mentioned above. The group may be a subset of the members belonging to a department. The group may be a collection of multiple members belonging to departments that are not necessarily the same. Information about the groups, that is, information about the members included in each group, may be stored in the information storage unit 190 in advance.

[0067] Specifically, the proxy selection unit 131 identifies a person (in other words, a member) who is in the same group as the recipient if the recipient is unable to answer the phone. The information acquisition unit 160 acquires the presence information and schedule information of the identified member. The status estimation unit 161 uses the presence information and schedule information of the identified member to estimate whether the identified member is able to answer the phone. The proxy selection unit 131 selects a member who is able to answer the phone from among the identified members as the proxy recipient. If there are multiple members who are able to answer the phone among the identified members, the proxy selection unit 131 selects one member from among the multiple members who are able to answer the phone as the proxy recipient. In this case, a priority order may be set for the members included in the group. In this case, the priority order is the order in which members are preferentially selected as proxy recipients. The proxy selection unit 131 may select the member with the highest priority from among the identified members who are available to answer the phone as the proxy recipient. The proxy selection unit 131 may randomly select the proxy recipient from among the identified members who are available to answer the phone. The proxy selection unit 131 may select the proxy recipient from among the identified members who are available to answer the phone by other means.

[0068] The agent selection unit 131 may select multiple agents.

[0069] <Notification section 150> The notification unit 150, similar to the notification unit 150 in the first embodiment, notifies the person answering the phone of the question.

[0070] Furthermore, if a candidate for forwarding the call has been selected but the forwarding party has not yet been determined, the notification unit 150 notifies the person answering the phone of the candidate for forwarding the call. The information of the candidate for forwarding the call includes, for example, at least a portion of the candidate's profile information (for example, information including their name (i.e., surname and given name)). The information of the candidate for forwarding the call may also include, for example, presence information. The information of the candidate for forwarding the call may also include, for example, information about the candidate's schedule at the time the information of the candidate for forwarding the call is notified.

[0071] Furthermore, if a candidate for forwarding the call has been selected but the forwarding party has not yet been determined, the notification unit 150 notifies the person answering the phone of the candidate for forwarding the call. The information of the candidate for forwarding the call includes, for example, at least part of the candidate's profile information (for example, information including their name (i.e., surname and given name)). The information of the candidate for forwarding the call may also include, for example, presence information. The information of the candidate for forwarding the call may also include, for example, information about the candidate's schedule at the time the information of the candidate for forwarding the call is notified. The information of the candidate for forwarding the call may also include information estimated by the status estimation unit 161 about the time when the candidate who is currently unable to answer the phone will next be able to answer the phone.

[0072] The notification unit 150 may notify the information of the candidate to be forwarded as a display screen showing the information of the candidate to be forwarded. The information processing device 300 receives the information of this display screen and displays the display screen indicated by the received information. In this disclosure, the area of ​​the display screen in which information identifying the candidate to be forwarded (e.g., surname and given name) is displayed for each candidate to be forwarded may be referred to as the identification information area. In addition, the area of ​​the display screen in which information indicating whether or not the candidate to be forwarded is available to speak (i.e., available to answer the phone) is displayed for each candidate to be forwarded may be referred to as the call availability information area. The area of ​​the display screen in which information of the candidate to be forwarded is displayed for each candidate to be forwarded may be referred to as the information area.

[0073] If a point indicated on the display screen, identified by the instruction receiving unit 170 described later, is included in the determination target area of ​​any candidate caller, the notification unit 150 determines that the determination target area of ​​any candidate caller has been indicated by the responder. The determination target area is, for example, one of the information area, specific information area, or call availability information area mentioned above. In this case, the notification unit 150 notifies the responder of at least one of the reasons why the call cannot be made and the available call times for the candidate caller whose determination target area has been indicated. Specifically, the notification unit 150 may cause the information processing device 300 to display a display screen on which information indicating at least one of the reasons why the call cannot be made and the available call times for the candidate caller whose determination target area has been indicated is superimposed.

[0074] The notification unit 150 may notify the responder of the information of the proxy contact (at least a portion of the profile information, presence information, and schedule information). That is, the notification unit 150 may transmit the information of the proxy contact (at least a portion of the profile information, presence information, and schedule information) to the information processing device 300 used by the responder. If multiple proxy contacts are selected, the notification unit 150 may notify the responder of the information of each of the multiple proxy contacts (that is, it may transmit the information of each of the multiple proxy contacts to the information processing device 300).

[0075] <Transfer Unit 180> The call forwarding unit 180, once the number of potential recipients has been narrowed down to one, and that one candidate has been selected as the recipient, and the selected recipient is available to answer the phone, forwards the call to that recipient's phone number. In other words, the call forwarding unit 180, once the number of potential recipients has been narrowed down to one, and that one candidate has been selected as the recipient, and the selected recipient is available to answer the phone, selects that recipient as the forwarding destination. The call forwarding unit 180 then forwards the call to the selected forwarding destination's phone number.

[0076] If the designated forwarding party is unable to answer the phone, an alternative forwarding party is selected as described above. If an alternative forwarding party is selected, the forwarding unit 180 forwards the call to the alternative forwarding party's phone number. In other words, the forwarding unit 180 determines the selected alternative forwarding party as the forwarding destination. The forwarding unit 180 forwards the call to the determined forwarding destination's phone number.

[0077] If multiple intermediary destinations are selected by the intermediary selection unit 131, the notification unit 150 notifies the information of the multiple intermediary destinations (i.e., the notification unit 150 transmits the information of the multiple intermediary destinations to the information processing device 300). In this case, the responder, who is the user of the information processing device 300, selects one intermediary destination from the multiple intermediary destinations, for example, using the input device of the information processing device 300. The information processing device 300 transmits information indicating the selected intermediary destination to the instruction receiving unit 170 of the intermediary support device 100. The instruction receiving unit 170, described later, receives information indicating the intermediary destination selected (in other words, designated) from the multiple intermediary destinations. In that case, the transfer unit 180 transfers the call to the telephone number of the selected (in other words, designated) intermediary destination. In other words, the transfer unit 180 determines the intermediary destination selected (in other words, designated) from the multiple intermediary destinations as the transfer destination. The transfer unit 180 transfers the call to the telephone number of the determined transfer destination.

[0078] The transfer unit 180 may transfer a call if it receives a call transfer instruction from the instruction receiving unit 170, which will be described later.

[0079] When the instruction receiving unit 170 (described later) receives an instruction for a forwarding destination, the forwarding unit 180 forwards the call to the telephone number indicated by the instruction for the forwarding destination.

[0080] The call forwarding unit 180 may also forward the call by sending an instruction to the telephone 200 to forward the call to a specified telephone number. This instruction may include information about the specified telephone number. In this case, when the telephone 200 receives the instruction to forward the call to a specified telephone number, it is configured to forward the call to the specified telephone number in accordance with the instruction.

[0081] <Instruction receiving unit 170> The instruction receiving unit 170 identifies the indicated point on the display screen described above. The indicated point is, for example, a point specified by the input device of the information processing device 300. If the input device is a mouse, the indicated point is, for example, the position where the mouse cursor was located when a specific button was clicked. The indicated point may also be, for example, the position where the mouse cursor remained for a predetermined time or longer. If the input device is a touch panel, it is the point where it was tapped.

[0082] Furthermore, the instruction receiving unit 170 receives an instruction from the operator to transfer a call. The instruction to transfer a call may be a predetermined operation performed by the input device of the information processing device 300. This predetermined operation may be, for example, clicking a predetermined button on a mouse in the area on the display screen that indicates the transfer instruction (for example, the area where a button indicating transfer is depicted). This predetermined operation may also be, for example, tapping in the area on the display screen displayed on the touch panel that indicates the transfer instruction (for example, the area where a button indicating transfer is depicted).

[0083] The instruction receiving unit 170 may also accept instructions to forward calls to a specified telephone number. An instruction to forward calls to a specified telephone number is an instruction to forward a call that is currently connected to the specified telephone number. The instruction receiving unit 170 accepts, for example, a forwarding instruction that includes a telephone number (i.e., a specified telephone number) entered as the forwarding destination telephone number by the input device of the information processing device 300.

[0084] If multiple agents are selected by the agent selection unit 131, the information of the multiple agents is notified by the notification unit 150 as described above (in other words, the information of the multiple agents is transmitted to the information processing device 300 by the notification unit 150). In this case, the instruction receiving unit 170 receives information from the information processing device 300 indicating the agent that was selected (in other words, specified) from the multiple agents.

[0085] When the instruction receiving unit 170 receives information indicating a selected agent from among multiple agents, the transfer unit 180, for example, determines the selected agent as the transfer destination.

[0086] <Operation> Next, the operation of the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0087] Figures 5, 6, and 7 are flowcharts illustrating examples of the operation of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure.

[0088] The operation of the intermediary support device 100 according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 5, 6, and 7.

[0089] In the example shown in Figure 5, first, the detection unit 110 detects an incoming call (step S101). If no incoming call is detected (NO in step S102), the detection unit 110 repeats the operation of step S101.

[0090] If an incoming call is detected (YES in step S102), the voice acquisition unit 120 starts acquiring voice data from the call (step S103). Voice data from the call refers to the voice data of the conversation that takes place during the call. From step S103 in Figure 5 until the operations shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 are completed, the voice acquisition unit 120 continues to acquire voice data from the call. The call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 estimates the content of the call conversation from the voice data by using speech recognition (step S104). The call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 estimates candidates for the call forwarding destination from the content of the conversation (step S105). The call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may initially consider all members of the organization as candidates for the call forwarding destination. Then, in step S105, the call forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may estimate candidates for the call forwarding destination by narrowing down the initial candidates for the call forwarding destination.

[0091] Next, the call forwarding support device 100 performs information notification processing (step S106). Through information notification processing, the estimated recipient's information is notified to the person answering the phone.

[0092] If multiple candidates for intermediary destinations are estimated in step S105 (YES in step S107), the intermediary support device 100 performs a narrowing process (step S108). Then, the intermediary support device 100 performs the operations from step S107 onward.

[0093] If no multiple candidates for intermediary destinations are estimated in step S105 (NO in step S107), the intermediary support device 100 then performs the operations from step S109 onwards as shown in Figure 6.

[0094] In the example shown in Figure 6, the intermediary estimation unit 130 determines the intermediary candidate to be the intermediary (step S109). Note that in step S109, there is only one intermediary candidate.

[0095] Next, the state estimation unit 161 determines whether the recipient is in a state where they can make a call (step S110). That is, the state estimation unit 161 determines whether the recipient is in a state where they can answer the phone. If the recipient is in a state where they can make a call (YES in step S111), that is, if the recipient is in a state where they can answer the phone, the call forwarding support device 100 then performs the operations from step S116 onwards as shown in Figure 7.

[0096] If the recipient is not in a state to receive a call (NO in step S111), that is, if the recipient is unable to answer the phone, the proxy selection unit 131 selects a person who is in the same group as the recipient and is able to receive a call as the proxy recipient (step S112). In other words, the proxy selection unit 131 selects a person who is in the same group as the recipient and is able to answer the phone as the proxy recipient.

[0097] The notification unit 150 then notifies the information of the proxy intermediary (step S113). Before step S113, for example, the information acquisition unit 160 may acquire the information of the proxy intermediary. The instruction receiving unit 170 receives information indicating the specified proxy intermediary (step S114). The information indicating the specified proxy intermediary is information that identifies the specified proxy intermediary. The transfer unit 180 determines the specified proxy intermediary as the transfer destination (step S115). The intermediary support device 100 then performs the operations from step S117 onwards, as shown in Figure 7.

[0098] In the example shown in Figure 7, in step S116, one recipient is determined, and the status of that recipient is ready to receive a call (i.e., ready to answer the phone). The transfer unit 180 determines the recipient as the transfer destination (step S116).

[0099] In step S117, the transfer destination is determined. The instruction receiving unit 170 receives the transfer instruction (step S117). If the transfer instruction is not received (NO in step S118), that is, if the instruction receiving unit 170 has not received the transfer instruction, the transfer support device 100 repeats the operations from step S117 onward.

[0100] If a transfer instruction is received (YES in step S118), that is, if the instruction receiving unit 170 receives a transfer instruction, the transfer unit 180 transfers the call to the transfer destination (step S119). The call forwarding support device 100 then completes the operations shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7.

[0101] Next, the operation of the information notification process according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0102] Figure 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information notification process of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure.

[0103] In the following, the operation of the information notification process of the intermediary support device 100 according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figure 8.

[0104] In the example shown in Figure 8, the information acquisition unit 160 acquires information on multiple candidate intermediaries (step S121). The notification unit 150 extracts notification information from the acquired information (step S122). The acquired information is the information on multiple candidate intermediaries acquired in step S121. The notification information is the information on multiple candidate intermediaries to be notified to the respondent, extracted from the information on multiple candidate intermediaries acquired in step S121. The notification unit 150 notifies the notification information of the multiple candidate intermediaries (step S123).

[0105] Next, the operation of the filtering process according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0106] Figure 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the filtering process of the intermediary support device related to this disclosure.

[0107] In the following, the operation of the filtering process of the intermediary support device 100 according to the second embodiment of this disclosure will be described in detail with reference to Figure 9.

[0108] In the example shown in Figure 9, the question generation unit 140 generates a question to narrow down the list of potential intermediaries (step S131). The notification unit 150 notifies the generated question (step S132).

[0109] The call forwarding estimation unit 130 estimates the content of the phone conversation from the audio data of the phone call (step S133). The audio acquisition unit 120 continues to acquire audio data of the phone call from step S103 in Figure 5 until the operations shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7 are completed. Therefore, even during the operation shown in Figure 9, the audio acquisition unit 120 continues to acquire audio data of the phone call. The call forwarding estimation unit 130 estimates the answer to the question from the content of the conversation (step S134). The call forwarding estimation unit 130 uses the answer to the question to narrow down the number of candidate call forwarding destinations (step S135). Then, the call forwarding support device 100 completes the operations shown in Figure 9.

[0110] <Effects> This embodiment has the same effects as the first embodiment. The reason for this is the same as the reason for the effects of the first embodiment.

[0111] <First modified example of the second embodiment> Sensors that observe members may be installed within a building where information processing equipment used by members is installed. The sensors may be imaging devices such as surveillance cameras. The sensors may be sensors capable of acquiring biometric data of members, such as fingerprint sensors. There may also be an identification device that identifies members measured by the sensors through biometric authentication using the data obtained by the sensors measuring the members. If the sensor is an imaging device, the identification device may identify members whose faces are included in the captured images by facial recognition using the facial images in the captured images. If the sensor is a fingerprint sensor, the identification device may identify members whose fingerprint information has been obtained as a fingerprint image by fingerprint authentication using the fingerprint images obtained by the sensor. The sensors may also be sensors that read member ID (Identification) information from a device such as a member's identification card. In this case, the identification device identifies the member indicated by the read information. Sensors may be installed at the entrances and exits of a building. In this case, sensors may be installed to determine when a member has entered and left the building, such as sensors that measure members leaving the entrance and sensors that measure members entering the entrance. Sensors may be installed at the entrances and exits of rooms. In this case as well, the sensors may include a sensor that measures members leaving the entrance and a sensor that measures members entering the entrance, so that it can determine when a member enters the room and when a member leaves the room.

[0112] The information acquisition unit 160 may acquire information indicating a candidate for the intermediary among the members, as measured by the sensor, and information about the time when the candidate for the intermediary was measured.

[0113] The state estimation unit 161 may use information indicating a candidate for the recipient among the members measured by the sensor (hereinafter referred to as sensor information) and information on the time when the candidate for the recipient was measured to estimate whether or not the candidate for the recipient is in a state where they can answer an available phone call.

[0114] Specifically, for example, if sensor information indicates that a candidate to whom a call should be forwarded has left a building and has not re-entered it, the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the candidate to whom a call should be forwarded is in a state where they cannot answer the phone. Also, if sensor information indicates that a candidate to whom a call should be forwarded has left a room where an information processing device used by that candidate is installed and has not re-entered that room, the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the candidate to whom a call should be forwarded is in a state where they cannot answer the phone.

[0115] For example, if the time required for a candidate call forwarding person to travel from the location where the sensor measuring that candidate is installed to the location where the information processing device used by that candidate is installed is longer than the time from the time measured by the candidate call forwarding person to the current time, the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the candidate call forwarding person is in a state where they cannot answer the phone. In this case, the time required for travel from the location where the sensor is installed to each location where the information processing device used by the candidate call forwarding person is installed may be given in advance.

[0116] The state estimation unit 161 may determine the state of a candidate intermediary by other means using the sensor information measured by the candidate intermediary.

[0117] Furthermore, the state estimation unit 161 may use sensor information to identify the room in which the member is located. For example, if sensor information from a sensor installed at the entrance of a room indicates that the member has entered the room and has not left it, the state estimation unit 161 may determine that the member is in that room. For example, if a member is authenticated by facial recognition using a facial image included in an image taken of the interior of the room at least a predetermined time before the current time, the state estimation unit 161 may determine that sensor information from an imaging device installed in the room indicates that the member is in that room.

[0118] In such a case, for example, the state estimation unit 161 determines that the telephone number of the member who has been determined to be in the room (in other words, the telephone number of the telephone that the member can answer) is the telephone number of the telephone installed in the room where the member is located. For example, the state estimation unit 161 sets the member's telephone number to the telephone number of the telephone installed in the room where the member is located.

[0119] <Second modified example of the second embodiment> The forwarding destination estimation unit 130 may store in the information storage unit 190 the number of times a member determined to be the forwarding destination for each caller has been determined to be the forwarding destination, as the number of forwardings (in other words, the number of times the call was forwarded). The transfer unit 180 may store in the information storage unit 190 the number of times a call has been forwarded to the telephone number of a member using the telephone number to which the call was forwarded, as the number of forwardings (in other words, the number of times the call was forwarded).

[0120] The notification unit 150 may associate information on potential call forwarding destinations with the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by the potential call forwarding destination. The notification unit 150 may notify information on potential call forwarding destinations that is associated with the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by the potential call forwarding destination. Specifically, the information on potential call forwarding destinations notified by the notification unit 150 may include the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by the potential call forwarding destination. The notification unit 150 may notify information on potential call forwarding destinations in descending order of the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by the potential call forwarding destination.

[0121] Furthermore, when the notification unit 150 notifies information on multiple intermediary parties, it may associate the information on multiple intermediary parties with the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by that intermediary party. The notification unit 150 may notify information on intermediary parties that is associated with the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by that intermediary party. Specifically, the information on intermediary parties notified by the notification unit 150 may include the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by that intermediary party. The notification unit 150 may notify information on intermediary parties in descending order of the number of times past calls from the caller have been transferred to the telephone number used by that intermediary party.

[0122] <Third modified example of the second embodiment> For example, a member's schedule information may include information that the member can set themselves indicating whether or not they can answer calls (hereinafter referred to as "call answering availability information"). The member's schedule information may include, for example, information indicating periods when calls can be answered and information indicating periods when calls cannot be answered. The call answering support device 100 (specifically, the components of the call answering support device 100) may determine that a member is unable to answer calls if the member's call answering availability information at the current time indicates that calls cannot be answered.

[0123] Furthermore, the member's profile information, for example, may include information about callers who refuse to accept the call. The notification unit 150 may notify the recipient of information that includes information about callers who refuse to accept the call. The notification unit 150 may also notify the candidate recipient of information that includes information about callers who refuse to accept the call.

[0124] Furthermore, information shared among members regarding callers who refuse to transfer calls may be stored in the information storage unit 190. If the information indicating the caller of a phone call is included in the information regarding callers who refuse to transfer calls, the notification unit 150 may notify the responder that the caller of the phone call is a caller who refuses to transfer calls. In other words, in this case, the notification unit 150 may transmit information indicating that the caller of the phone call is a caller who refuses to transfer calls to the information processing device 300.

[0125] <Other Embodiments> An intermediary support device according to an embodiment of this disclosure can be implemented by a computer including a memory into which a program read from a storage medium is loaded, and a processor that executes the program. An intermediary support device according to an embodiment of this disclosure can also be implemented by dedicated hardware. An intermediary support device according to an embodiment of this disclosure can also be implemented by a combination of the aforementioned computer and dedicated hardware.

[0126] Figure 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a computer 1000 that can realize the intermediary support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure. In the example shown in Figure 10, the computer 1000 includes a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage device 1003, and an I / O (Input / Output) interface 1004. The computer 1000 can also access a storage medium 1005. The memory 1002 and the storage device 1003 are, for example, storage devices such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and hard disks. The storage medium 1005 is, for example, a storage device such as RAM and hard disks, ROM (Read Only Memory), and a portable storage medium. The storage device 1003 may also be the storage medium 1005. The processor 1001 can read and write data and programs to the memory 1002 and the storage device 1003. The processor 1001 can access, for example, a telephone 200 and an information processing device 300 via the I / O interface 1004. The processor 1001 can access the storage medium 1005. The storage medium 1005 stores a program that causes the computer 1000 to operate as an intermediary support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure.

[0127] The processor 1001 loads a program stored in the storage medium 1005 into the memory 1002 that causes the computer 1000 to operate as an intermediary support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure. The processor 1001 then executes the program loaded into the memory 1002, causing the computer 1000 to operate as an intermediary support device according to the embodiment of this disclosure.

[0128] The detection unit 110, voice acquisition unit 120, intermediary estimation unit 130, proxy selection unit 131, question generation unit 140, notification unit 150, information acquisition unit 160, state estimation unit 161, instruction receiving unit 170, and transfer unit 180 can be implemented, for example, by a processor 1001 that executes a program loaded into memory 1002. The information storage unit 190 can be implemented by a storage device 1003 such as memory 1002 or a hard disk drive included in the computer 1000. Some or all of the detection unit 110, voice acquisition unit 120, intermediary estimation unit 130, proxy selection unit 131, question generation unit 140, notification unit 150, information acquisition unit 160, state estimation unit 161, instruction receiving unit 170, transfer unit 180, and information storage unit 190 can be implemented by dedicated circuits that realize the functions of each unit.

[0129] Furthermore, some or all of the above embodiments may also be described as follows, but are not limited to these.

[0130] (Note 1) A means for estimating a candidate for the person to be called in the aforementioned phone call, based on the audio from the phone call, using speech recognition. When multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, a question generation means generates a question to narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary using information on the multiple candidates for the intermediary, A notification means for notifying the person answering the aforementioned telephone call of the aforementioned question, A call forwarding support device equipped with the following features.

[0131] (Note 2) The question generation means identifies items among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries that have different values ​​among the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question that asks for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1.

[0132] (Note 3) The question generation means identifies the item among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item values ​​of the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 2.

[0133] (Note 4) The intermediary estimation means recognizes the answer to the question by speech recognition and uses the answer to narrow down the multiple candidate intermediaries. If there are multiple candidates for the referral destination after the narrowing down process, the question generation means identifies the item among the multiple items for which no question has been generated yet that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item in the multiple candidate referral destinations, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 2 or 3.

[0134] (Note 5) The notification means notifies the responder of information about the multiple candidate call recipients, which is calculated from records of past call recipients for calls from the person who made the call, and is associated with the number of times the call from the call recipient has been forwarded to each of the multiple candidate call recipients. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0135] (Note 6) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information on the correct pronunciation of the person's name and information on the incorrect pronunciation of the person's name. The intermediary estimation means estimates the pronunciation of the intermediary's name from the telephone audio, and estimates candidates for the intermediary using the estimated pronunciation of the name estimated from the telephone audio, the information on the correct pronunciation, and the information on the incorrect pronunciation. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0136] (Note 7) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information about the person's business, The forwarding destination estimation means estimates the purpose of the call from the voice of the call, and estimates candidates for the forwarding destination using the purpose and the business information. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0137] (Note 8) The aforementioned intermediary estimation means estimates the candidate intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, to be the intermediary. The aforementioned intermediary support device, If the aforementioned recipient is unable to make a call, a proxy selection means selects a person who is in the same group as the aforementioned recipient and is able to make a call, to be the proxy recipient who will answer the phone on behalf of the aforementioned recipient. Furthermore, The notification means notifies the respondent of the information of the agent / representative. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0138] (Note 9) The forwarding destination estimation means recognizes the answer to the question from the telephone audio using speech recognition and uses the answer to narrow down the multiple candidate forwarding destinations. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0139] (Note 10) A state estimation means that estimates whether the candidate caller is available to make a call based on presence information indicating whether the candidate caller is using an information processing device and schedule information of the candidate caller. Equipped with, The notification means notifies information indicating whether or not the candidate to be the intermediary is available for a call, as information about the candidate to be the intermediary. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0140] (Note 11) The status estimation means estimates the reason why a candidate caller is unable to make a call, based on the availability information and schedule information of the candidate caller. The notification means notifies the respondent of the reason why the call to the candidate recipient, which was determined to be unable to be reached, could not be reached. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 10.

[0141] (Note 12) The state estimation means estimates the call availability time, which is the time when a candidate call recipient that has been determined to be unavailable for a call will be able to make a call, based on the schedule information of the candidate call recipient. The notification means notifies the responder of the available call time for the candidate recipient that has been determined to be unavailable for call. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 10.

[0142] (Note 13) The notification means causes the responder device, which is an information processing device used by the responder, to display a display screen that includes a specific information area, which is an area where information identifying the candidate to be forwarded is displayed, and a call availability information area, which is an area where information indicating whether or not the candidate to be forwarded is available for a call is displayed. The aforementioned intermediary support device, Instruction receiving means that receives information from the responder device indicating whether or not the callable information area of ​​the candidate recipient has been indicated by the responder. Equipped with, If the call availability information area of ​​the candidate to be forwarded has been instructed by the responder, and the candidate to be forwarded is not in a state to make a call, the notification means notifies the responder of at least one of the reasons why the candidate to be forwarded is not available for a call and the time when the call will become available for a call. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 10.

[0143] (Note 14) The notification means causes the responder device to display the display screen on which information indicating at least one of the reasons why the candidate is unavailable for a call and the time when the candidate is available for a call is superimposed, if the call availability information area of ​​the candidate is indicated by the responder and the candidate is not available for a call. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 13.

[0144] (Note 15) A state estimation means estimates whether each of the multiple candidate callers is in a state where they can make a call, using information on the schedules of the multiple candidate callers and information on the multiple candidate callers measured by the sensor and the time at which each candidate caller was measured. Furthermore, The notification means notifies the respondent of information about the multiple candidate call recipients, including information indicating whether each of the multiple candidate call recipients is available to receive a call. The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2.

[0145] (Note 16) The aforementioned intermediary estimation means estimates the candidate intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, to be the intermediary. The aforementioned intermediary support device, A forwarding means for forwarding the aforementioned telephone call to the telephone number used by the intermediary, The intermediary support device described in Appendix 1 or 2, further comprising the above.

[0146] (Note 17) Based on the audio from the phone call, the candidate recipients of the call, who are to be called in the aforementioned phone call, are estimated by speech recognition. If multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, the system uses the information of the multiple candidates to generate questions that narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary. The person answering the aforementioned phone call will be notified of the aforementioned questions. Intermediary support methods.

[0147] (Note 18) The system identifies items that have different values ​​among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question that asks for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17.

[0148] (Note 19) The system identifies the item among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries that has the most different values ​​among the same item values ​​of the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question that asks for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 18.

[0149] (Note 20) The system recognizes the answers to the aforementioned questions using speech recognition, and uses those answers to narrow down the list of potential intermediary partners. If, after the above-mentioned narrowing down, there are multiple candidates for the referral partner, then among the multiple items for which no question has been generated to ask for a value, the item with the largest number of different values ​​among the same item of the multiple candidate referral partners is identified, and a question is generated to ask for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 18 or 19.

[0150] (Note 21) The information of the multiple candidate recipients, which is calculated from the records of past recipients of calls from the person who made the call, and associated with the number of times the call from the caller has been transferred to each of the multiple candidate recipients, is notified to the respondent. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0151] (Note 22) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information on the correct pronunciation of the person's name and information on the incorrect pronunciation of the person's name. The system estimates the pronunciation of the recipient's name from the audio of the phone call, and uses the estimated pronunciation of the name estimated from the audio of the phone call, along with the information on the correct pronunciation and the information on the incorrect pronunciation, to estimate candidates for the recipient. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0152] (Note 23) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information about the person's business, The purpose of the call is estimated from the audio of the call, and the candidate recipients are estimated using the purpose of the call and the business information. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0153] (Note 24) The candidate for the intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, is presumed to be the intermediary, If the aforementioned intermediary is unable to make a call, a person who is in the same group as the aforementioned intermediary and is able to make a call is selected as the intermediary to answer the phone on behalf of the aforementioned intermediary. The information of the aforementioned agent / representative is notified to the aforementioned representative. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0154] (Note 25) The answers to the aforementioned questions are recognized from the audio of the telephone call using speech recognition, and the answers are used to narrow down the list of potential recipients. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0155] (Note 26) Based on the presence information indicating whether the candidate to be forwarded is using an information processing device, and the schedule information of the candidate to be forwarded, it is estimated whether the candidate to be forwarded is available to make a call. As information regarding the candidate recipients, information indicating whether or not the candidate recipients are available to receive calls will be provided. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0156] (Note 27) Based on the availability information and schedule information of the candidate intermediary, the reason why the candidate intermediary who was determined to be unable to make a call is unable to make a call is estimated. The reason why the call could not be made to the candidate recipient determined to be unavailable is notified to the person handling the call. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 26.

[0157] (Note 28) Based on the schedule information of the aforementioned candidate intermediary, the call availability time is estimated, which is the time when the candidate intermediary, which was determined to be unavailable for calls, becomes available for calls. The respondent is notified of the available call times for the candidate recipient that was determined to be unavailable for call. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 26.

[0158] (Note 29) A display screen including a specific information area, which is an area where information identifying the candidate for the forwarding party is displayed, and a call availability information area, which is an area where information indicating whether or not the candidate for the forwarding party is available for a call is displayed on the caller device, which is an information processing device used by the caller. The responder device receives information indicating whether the callable information area of ​​the candidate recipient has been indicated by the responder. If the call availability information area of ​​the candidate recipient is indicated by the responder, and the candidate recipient is not in a state where they can make a call, the responder is notified of at least one of the following: the reason why the candidate recipient cannot make a call, and the time when they will be able to make a call. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 26.

[0159] (Note 30) If the call availability information area of ​​the candidate recipient is indicated by the responder, and the candidate recipient is not in a state where a call can be made, the responder device will display the display screen on which information indicating at least one of the reasons why the call cannot be made and the time when the call will be made is superimposed for the candidate recipient. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 29.

[0160] (Note 31) Using the schedule information of the multiple candidate call recipients and the information of the multiple candidate call recipients measured by the sensor and the time at which each of the multiple candidate call recipients was measured, it is estimated whether each of the multiple candidate call recipients is available for a call. The respondent is notified of information about the multiple candidate call recipients, including information indicating whether each of the multiple candidate call recipients is available for a call. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0161] (Note 32) The candidate for the intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, is presumed to be the intermediary, The aforementioned call is forwarded to the telephone number used by the aforementioned intermediary. The intermediary support method described in Appendix 17 or 18.

[0162] (Note 33) A call forwarding estimation process that estimates potential call forwarding recipients, who are the people to be called in the aforementioned phone call, using speech recognition based on the phone call audio, If multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, a question generation process is performed to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary using information on the multiple candidates for the intermediary, A notification process is performed to inform the person answering the aforementioned telephone call of the aforementioned question, A program that causes a computer to execute something.

[0163] (Note 34) The question generation process identifies items that have different values ​​among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question that asks for the value of the identified item. The program described in Appendix 33.

[0164] (Note 35) The question generation process identifies the item among the multiple items representing the information of the multiple candidate intermediaries that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item values ​​of the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The program described in Appendix 34.

[0165] (Note 36) The aforementioned intermediary estimation process recognizes the answer to the question by speech recognition and uses the answer to narrow down the multiple candidates for intermediary. The question generation process, when there are multiple candidates for the referral destination after the filtering, identifies the item among the multiple items for which no question has been generated yet that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item of the multiple candidate referral destinations, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The program described in Appendix 34 or 35.

[0166] (Note 37) The notification process provides the respondent with information about the multiple candidate call recipients, which is calculated from records of past call forwarding destinations for calls from the person who made the call, and is associated with the number of times the call from the caller has been forwarded to each of the multiple candidate call recipients. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0167] (Note 38) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information on the correct pronunciation of the person's name and information on the incorrect pronunciation of the person's name. The aforementioned call forwarding estimation process estimates the pronunciation of the call forwarding person's name from the telephone audio, and uses the estimated pronunciation of the name estimated from the telephone audio, along with the information on the correct pronunciation and the information on the incorrect pronunciation, to estimate candidates for the call forwarding person. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0168] (Note 39) The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information about the person's business, The aforementioned call forwarding estimation process estimates the purpose of the call from the voice of the call, and uses the purpose and the business information to estimate candidates for the call forwarding service. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0169] (Note 40) The aforementioned intermediary estimation process estimates the candidate intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, as the intermediary. The aforementioned program, If the aforementioned recipient is unable to make a call, a proxy selection process is performed to select a person who is in the same group as the aforementioned recipient and is able to make a call, as a proxy recipient who will answer the phone on behalf of the aforementioned recipient. Let the computer execute it further, The notification process involves notifying the respondent of the information of the agent / intermediary. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0170] (Note 41) The aforementioned call forwarding estimation process recognizes the answer to the question from the telephone audio using speech recognition, and uses the answer to narrow down the multiple candidate call forwarding locations. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0171] (Note 42) A state estimation process that estimates whether the candidate caller is available to make a call based on presence information indicating whether the candidate caller is using an information processing device and schedule information of the candidate caller. Have the computer run it, The notification process provides information indicating whether the candidate to be the intermediary is available for a call, as information about the candidate to be the intermediary. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0172] (Note 43) The state estimation process estimates the reason why a candidate caller is unable to make a call, based on the availability information and schedule information of the candidate caller. The notification process instructs the respondent to inform the candidate recipient of the reason why the call could not be made to the recipient that was determined to be unavailable. The program described in Appendix 42.

[0173] (Note 44) The state estimation process estimates the call availability time, which is the time when a candidate call recipient that has been determined to be unavailable for a call will be able to make a call, based on the schedule information of the candidate call recipient. The notification process involves notifying the respondent of the available call time for the candidate recipient that was determined to be unavailable for call. The program described in Appendix 42.

[0174] (Note 45) The notification process causes the responder device, which is an information processing device used by the responder, to display a display screen that includes a specific information area, which is an area where information identifying the candidate to be forwarded is displayed, and a call availability information area, which is an area where information indicating whether or not the candidate to be forwarded is available for a call is displayed. The aforementioned program, Instruction reception process: Receiving information from the responder device indicating whether the callable information area of ​​the candidate recipient has been indicated by the responder. Have the computer run it, The notification process, if the call availability information area of ​​the candidate recipient is instructed by the responder and the candidate recipient is not in a state where a call can be made, notifies the responder of at least one of the reasons why the candidate recipient cannot make a call and the time when they will be able to make a call. The program described in Appendix 42.

[0175] (Note 46) The notification process, if the call availability information area of ​​the candidate recipient is indicated by the responder and the candidate recipient is not in a state to make a call, causes the responder device to display the display screen on which information indicating at least one of the reasons why the call cannot be made and the time when the call will be made for the candidate recipient is superimposed. The program described in Appendix 45.

[0176] (Note 47) A state estimation process that estimates whether each of the multiple candidate callers is in a state where they can make a call, using the schedule information of the multiple candidate callers and the information of the multiple candidate callers measured by the sensor and the time at which the multiple candidate callers were measured. Let the computer execute it further, The notification process notifies the respondent of information about the multiple candidate call recipients, including information indicating whether each of the multiple candidate call recipients is available for a call. The program described in Appendix 33 or 34.

[0177] (Note 48) The aforementioned intermediary estimation process estimates the candidate intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, as the intermediary. The aforementioned program, A forwarding process that transfers the aforementioned phone call to the telephone number used by the intermediary, A program described in Appendix 33 or 34 that further causes a computer to execute the following.

[0178] Although the present disclosure has been described above with reference to embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above. Various modifications to the structure and details of the present disclosure may be made that can be understood by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0179] 1. Intermediary Support System 10. Intermediary support device 100 Intermediary support device 110 Detection unit 120 Voice acquisition unit 130 Estimation of intermediary 131 Proxy Selection Section 140 Question generation section 150 Notification Department 160 Information Acquisition Department 161 State Estimation Unit 170 Instruction Receiving Unit 180 Transfer section 190 Information storage section 200 telephones 300 Information Processing Devices 1000 computers 1001 Processor 1002 memory 1003 Storage device 1004 I / O Interface 1005 Storage medium

Claims

1. A means for estimating a candidate for the person to be called in the aforementioned phone call, based on the audio from the phone call, using speech recognition. When multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, a question generation means generates a question to narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary using information on the multiple candidates for the intermediary, A notification means for notifying the person answering the aforementioned telephone call of the aforementioned question, A call forwarding support device equipped with the following features.

2. The question generation means identifies items among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries that have different values ​​among the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device according to claim 1.

3. The question generation means identifies the item among the multiple items representing information about the multiple candidate intermediaries that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item values ​​of the multiple candidate intermediaries, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device according to claim 2.

4. The intermediary estimation means recognizes the answer to the question by speech recognition and uses the answer to narrow down the multiple candidate intermediaries. If there are multiple candidates for the referral destination after the narrowing down process, the question generation means identifies the item among the multiple items for which no question has been generated yet that has the largest number of different values ​​among the same item in the multiple candidate referral destinations, and generates a question asking for the value of the identified item. The intermediary support device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The notification means notifies the responder of information about the multiple candidate call recipients, which is calculated from records of past call recipients for calls from the person who made the call, and is associated with the number of times the call from the call recipient has been forwarded to each of the multiple candidate call recipients. The intermediary support device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information on the correct pronunciation of the person's name and information on the incorrect pronunciation of the person's name. The intermediary estimation means estimates the pronunciation of the intermediary's name from the telephone audio, and estimates candidates for the intermediary using the estimated pronunciation of the name estimated from the telephone audio, the information on the correct pronunciation, and the information on the incorrect pronunciation. The intermediary support device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. The information of the person who may be the intermediary includes information about the person's business, The forwarding destination estimation means estimates the purpose of the call from the voice of the call, and estimates candidate forwarding destinations using the purpose and the business information. The intermediary support device according to claim 1 or 2.

8. The aforementioned intermediary estimation means estimates the candidate intermediary, which has been narrowed down to one person, to be the intermediary. The aforementioned intermediary support device, If the aforementioned recipient is unable to make a call, a proxy selection means selects a person who is in the same group as the aforementioned recipient and is able to make a call, to be the proxy recipient who will answer the phone on behalf of the aforementioned recipient. Furthermore, The notification means notifies the respondent of the information of the agent / representative. The intermediary support device according to claim 1 or 2.

9. Based on the audio from the phone call, the candidate recipients of the call, who are to be called in the aforementioned phone call, are estimated by speech recognition. If multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, the system uses the information of the multiple candidates to generate questions that narrow down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary. The person answering the aforementioned phone call will be notified of the aforementioned questions. Intermediary support methods.

10. A call forwarding estimation process that estimates potential call forwarding recipients, who are the people to be called in the aforementioned phone call, using speech recognition based on the phone call audio, If multiple candidates for the intermediary are estimated, a question generation process is performed to generate a question that narrows down the estimated multiple candidates for the intermediary using information on the multiple candidates for the intermediary, A notification process is performed to inform the person answering the aforementioned telephone call of the aforementioned question, A program that causes a computer to execute something.

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